“Severely disabled” means individuals with exceptional needs who require intensive instruction and training in programs serving pupils with the following profound disabilities: autism, blindness, deafness, severe orthopedic impairments, serious emotional disturbances, severe intellectual disability, and those individuals who would have been eligible for enrollment in a development center for handicapped pupils under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 56800), as it read on January 1, 1980.
Source:
Section 56030.5, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=56030.5..