If the two year old in question knows their alphabet, upper & lower case, knows most of the sounds the letters make, and can sound out unfamiliar words and sight read the rest, I don't really see what's controversial about calling that "reading". It's not a stupid toddler trick or a mark of genius, either.

If we're going to add comprehension requirements on top of that, then what passes as reading is pretty abysmal even for some adults.