This article presents a study that examined the life experiences of ten disabled students enrolled in secondary school in a rural context in South Africa. The methodology used to understand their life experiences of schooling is the narrative. The student's authentic personal stories were used to explore their experiences. Through stories of the ten students we were able to learn from the motivations, contextual dynamics, and struggles that have made and make meanings in their lives. By communicating their stories, the students have enabled the researchers to connect with their anxieties, concerns, perceptions, experiences and challenges in their learning environment. What becomes evident in this study is the fact that the processes inclusion and exclusion are multiple and complex, and are enacted within wider social and political contexts. Furthermore, findings in this study support the arguments put forth by Edwards, Armstrong & Miller (2001) that inclusion is not the binary opposite of exclusion, and that inclusion will not overcome exclusion. Evidence of exclusion will always be found in practices of inclusion. The challenge is constantly to subject these notions and practices to interrogation and deconstruction within the micro-practices of an organisation such as the school and its community.