Within the past two decades there has been an increase in research studying the perspective of persons labeled as disabled, rather than relying solely on outsiders' (nonlabeled persons‘) perspectives about them. In this paper, a series of interviews with a small group of persons labeled as mentally retarded sought insights into their work environment, friendships, and future goals through their own words. The interviews revealed that they recognized being “different” in terms of the labels applied to them by others, but they did not use those same labels when defining themselves or choosing their close fr