Accessible summary This study asked people with learning disabilities what it was like to find out they had a learning disability. It found that the experience of finding out they have a learning disability can be a difficult experience which takes time to come to terms with. This research could help professionals support people better with this. Summary Studies have focused on the experience of diagnosis from the perspectives of parents of children with learning disabilities, but there has been limited methodologically rigorous investigation into the experience for the person themselves. Eight participants were recruited from a range of different backgrounds. Interviews were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Three main themes emerged. The first concerned awareness of difference. Participants described becoming aware of an unwanted difference at school. Adolescence appeared as a time when an increased understanding of disability developed. In the second theme of ‘the relationship with nondisabled others’, participants described their opinions on labelling and their perspectives on how others viewed them. The final theme explored coping responses to stigma.