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Under the new DSM-5, all SLDs are in the same diagnostic category of Specific Learning Disorder. Diagnosticians then further indicate the area of learning affected: reading, written expression, mathematics. Some delineate even further, to reading skills/comprehension/fluency, spelling/writing skills/expression, math calculation/reasoning/fluency.

Mild/moderate/severe used to be loosely defined by their distance from the mean, though clinicians have always used a fair amount of personal judgement. So, for example, mild might be roughly 1-2 standard deviations below the mean, moderate might be 2-3, and severe might be 3+. Under the DSM-5, mild/moderate/severe have been redefined in terms of level of support, where mild means that there is a disability/disorder, but the individual should be able to function with minimal support, moderate means with significant support, and severe means with substantial support. Note that these are, again, fairly loosely defined. There are SD guidelines in the DSM for SLD, which are not too different from the old ones, although, again, clinicians may specify a level of severity based on qualitative features, such as the amount of effort needed to maintain age-appropriate performance.

Mild-to-moderate means that the clinician believes that the client can be successful with support, but that some level of support (even a minimal level) will be necessary. Also, likely, that the level of support will vary somewhat depending on the specific task or setting. It is not unusual, when reading and writing are both involved, for reading to be mild and writing to be moderate, since writing typically requires some reading skill, with compounding effects.

Thank you aeh! Extremely helpful as always.