In "Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery," annie liontas offers a deeply personal and multifaceted conceptualization of traumatic brain injury (TBI). While acknowledging the ongoing challenges of living with TBI, liontas also highlights the journey of recovery. The book documents their efforts to adapt, cope, and find meaning in the midst of adversity. I am a tenured Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Kingsborough Community College, who is also on the recovery journey after sustaining multiple concussions and TBI in 2012. One critical aspect of this journey has been to change the way I teach and think about learning. In "Teaching as Learning," Jean Lave proposes that learning is best understood as an aspect of participation in socially situated practices. Learning is embedded in social activities and practices, not isolated mental processes. I have found that this approach has not only been important for my own recovery, but also to understand neurodiversity among differentiated learners in the classroom, through culturally sustaining practices (Paris,2012). In this (in person) presentation and brief workshop, I will reflect on my own experience and offer effective strategies, from mind-mapping to structured learning opportunities, that effectuate meaningful collaboration among neurodiverse community members. I will discuss how creative non-fiction provides both a way of representing marginalized ways of being, as well as a tool for exploring new neural pathways. This approach is important in order to challenge the traditional view that education is merely about reproducing existing practices, arguing that it involves complex learning and identity formation. It also questions the superiority of formal education, suggesting that "informal" practices can be highly effective. Participants from all areas of higher education would benefit from this interactive workshop.