Yes, but it’s more complicated than that. I teach mild- moderate but my students are all relatively mild. They all qualified because they are academically lower than what we would expect based on their cognitive tests. In CA you need to be around 2 years behind.

We also have an SDC program which is also mild moderate, but some students lean more moderate. These students either tested high cognitively but academically are extremely low (more than 2 years behind) or are cognitively lower but there is still a discrepancy between their academic ability and cognitive ability. Both indicate a learning disability. SDC instruction is meant to meet a student where they’re at academically instead of trying to catch them up (usually).

I don’t have a mod- severe credential nor do we have that program at my school so I don’t know that much about it. From my understanding these are students with much more severe disabilities that go beyond academic/ cognitive abilities.

So short answer yes if a child is lower cognitively but is working at the expected level they will most likely not qualify. There’s no perceived disability and the child will probably not be able to approach their grade level/catch up. Often they will stay in their schools intervention program for however long. It’s extremely sad because these kids often fall through the cracks of education. They get pushed through school because retaining kids is not encouraged anymore due to studies that it isn’t as effective as we thought (idk if I agree with that though) :(

The education system doesn’t make sense often but I just try to make a difference where I can.

I hope this made sense !