This paper tells the story of the development of a rights -based education programme for students with intellectual disability (ID) in one Irish university, the University College Cork (UCC). It explores how the philosophy underpinning the programme has emerged from an instinctive response to the segregation and isolation of people with ID into a more clearly articulated commitment to a model of provision based on a commitment to human rights. This represents a paradigm shift in how we view and work with people with ID and marks a break from traditional paternalistic and charity-based approaches to provision. Articulating what we are doing and why we are doing it, is vital for developing communities of inclusive practice who are sustained by an ongoing process of reflection, disruption, and reimagining.