Robert Titzer

Robert C. Titzer (born June 1960)^[1] is an American professor and infant researcher who created an approach to teach babies written language that later resulted in the Your Baby Can products.

He has been a professor, teacher, and public speaker on human learning for around 20 years, and taught his own children to read using the multi-sensory approach that he developed.^[2] He is the founder of the Infant Learning Company, a company that produces learning products for infants.^[3]

Education and degrees

Titzer received his teaching credentials from San Diego State University. In the late 1980s, he taught at public schools in Guam and California. In 1985, he earned a communications degree from the University of Southern Indiana. He later completed a Master of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and received a doctorate in human performance from the Indiana University Bloomington.^[4] At Bloomington, he did experiments in infant learning at developmental psychology laboratories. During his tenure as professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, Titzer developed a program to teach toddlers to read.^[5] He has also been a professor at Pennsylvania State University, Indiana University, and California State University, Fullerton.^[4]

Occupation

In 1997, Titzer began selling "Your Baby Can Read!" videos. By 2003, around 60,000 had been sold.^[8] In September 2007, Dr. Titzer and his company sold the rights to his programs to a new company that exclusively advertised and sold the products in North America. In April 2011, a complaint was filed with the FTC against this new company. The complaint, by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said the new company's advertising claims were false and deceptive. In July 2012, the new company folded, citing the high cost of fighting legal battles.^[9] At that time, the rights to the programs reverted to Dr. Titzer and his company. Titzer also trains preschool teachers in many countries and he consults with learning centers and preschools in India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, the United States, and China.

Other Opinions

Though there have been millions of fans of Dr. Titzer and his products, some people have criticized Titzer's videos as being suspect because they lack rigorous scientific review and are commercial products.^[1]

In November 2010, Jeff Rossen and Robert Powell of NBC's Today wrote that Titzer "calls himself an infant learning expert but actually holds a graduate degree in 'human performance' — the study of motor skills."^[6]

Maryanne Wolf, Tufts University's director of cognitive neuroscience, said: "It's an extraordinary manipulation of facts."^[6] Today interviewed ten experts who affirmed that the brains of babies and toddlers had not attained the requisite development to read at "the level the way the enticing television ads claim they can".^[6] Titzer argued against these claims, saying that scientific research supported the effectiveness of Your Baby Can Read.^[6] There have been more than a dozen mostly very positive studies on the program which is likely more than any other baby learning product.

On August 22, 2014, a press release from the Federal Trade Commission related the following: "Your Baby Can Read creator, Dr. Robert Titzer, and his company, Infant Learning, Inc. d/b/a The Infant Learning Company have settled charges that they made baseless claims about the effectiveness of the Your Baby Can Read program and misrepresented that scientific studies proved the claims.".^[7] Dr. Titzer now has broken his ties with the marketing company which used infomercials to sell the products in huge numbers. He now often works with people in the field of early childhood education to market the products.

Personal

Titzer and his family live just outside San Diego, California.^[4][8]

References