Background: Within the emergence of inclusive education in Indonesia, transitions take on various forms impacting the educational and social lives of students. This paper reports the experiences of primary school students with intellectual disabilities during transitions in various contexts. Methods: An initial period of research used arts-informed methods to support the students to capture their journey in education. While the voice of students about inclusive education was captured through photographs, drawings and conversations, students were supported to undertake a personal research project. Results: Students shared a range of experiences and feelings in the interviews using the photographs and drawings as prompts. Some reported on being expelled from regular school as a result of failure to meet academic standards and transitioning to "inclusive school." These "inclusive schools" moved the students from special to the regular classroom, and back, based on their academic performance. While students valued the opportunity of having more friends in the regular class, they voiced a preference for the special classroom for social interactions. Some students reported their experiences of being retained at year level for lack of progress in a rigid curriculum. Students expressed their conflicting emotions of sadness when retained, of happiness when promoted and despair at the level of learning support provided to "survive" in the higher year level. The students also provided insight into the identity of students with intellectual disabilities as impacted by transition experiences. Conclusions: Transitions, and barriers to transitions, come in varying forms, and students with disabilities contextualise and report them in different ways.