In this study a group of students with reading and writing difficulties relate their experiences of school to their expressed opinions concerning the possibilities of participation and influence in this setting. Twelve students at upper-level compulsory school or upper secondary school were interviewed. Mostly their reading and writing difficulties were not recognised until they had been in school for several years, often after a persistent struggle by them and their parents. The prerequisite for receiving special educational support was reported to be based on having a diagnosis of dyslexia. In order to obtain needed support, students often had to accept segregated small-group settings and their attitude to this often seemed ambivalent. One conclusion of this study is that what these students experienced as labelling did not seem to be the diagnosis or the special education itself, but rather the school's way of organising and carrying out this support.