The purpose of the article is to show the difficulties that are encountered by a researcher dealing with the problems of persons with intellectual disability. The article stresses some notions related to ontological and epistemological issues, the source of which are questions about the possibilities and manner of exploring mental handicap. They refer not only to the broadly-understood problems of handicap and the methodological consequences of identifications, but also the manner of diagnosis and analysis that are characteristic of particular fields of science. The article raises the notions related to a field researcher’s workshop, difficulties in data acquisition, the emotional context of exploring the environment of persons with disabilities, as well as the ethical and moral dilemmas that provide an indispensable element of such a research undertaking.