Is VillageMetrics good for medication tracking?
Yes—VillageMetrics is specifically designed to help parents track whether medications are working for autism-related behaviors like aggression, meltdowns, and anxiety. It lets you capture daily observations through voice journaling, automatically tracks your medication timeline, and shows you how behavior changes correlate with dose adjustments.
That said, it's not the only option. Here's an honest comparison to help you decide if it's right for your situation.
What Medication Tracking Actually Requires
To evaluate whether a medication is working, you need:
Consistent daily observations — Is behavior better, worse, or the same?
A medication timeline — When did doses start, change, or stop?
A way to compare periods — How does "on the new dose" compare to "before the change"?
Context for doctor conversations — What patterns or side effects have you noticed?
Any tracking method needs to address all four. Let's compare.
VillageMetrics vs. Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet approach:
Create a Google Sheet with Date | Rating (Bad/Okay/Good) | Notes
Keep a separate tab with medication start/end dates
Before appointments, count ratings and calculate averages for each medication period
VillageMetrics approach:
Record a voice note about your day (a minute or two)
Enter medication changes once; the app tracks the timeline automatically
Before appointments, ask "How has behavior changed since we increased the dose?" and get a summary
| Capability | Spreadsheet | VillageMetrics |
|---|---|---|
| Daily capture | Typing on phone (clunky) | Voice (just talk) |
| Medication timeline | Manual tracking | Automatic |
| Period comparison | Manual calculation | Ask in natural language |
| Pattern detection | You spot it yourself | AI surfaces correlations |
| Side effect tracking | Only if you remember to note it | Mentioned in voice → automatically tracked |
| Doctor-ready summary | You create it | AI generates it |
Bottom line: Spreadsheets work and they're free. VillageMetrics is easier to use, captures more detail, and does the analysis for you.
VillageMetrics vs. Paper Logs
Some families prefer paper—a calendar on the fridge or a printed tracking sheet.
The challenge with paper:
Hard to aggregate across months (counting symbols is tedious)
Can't search or filter
Can't share with co-parents or caregivers digitally
Medication timeline lives somewhere else (your memory?)
When paper makes sense: If you're tracking for just a few weeks during a specific medication trial and you'll remember to count everything manually before your appointment.
When VillageMetrics makes sense: If you're tracking long-term, managing multiple medications, or need to share data with a care team.
What VillageMetrics Does Well for Medication Tracking
1. Medication timeline is built-in You enter each medication and dose once. The app knows what your child was taking on any given day, so you don't have to remember or cross-reference spreadsheets.
2. Automatic correlation Ask "How has aggression changed since we started the new medication?" The AI compares behavior before and after the change date—you don't have to calculate anything.
3. Side effects surface naturally When you mention "he seemed drowsy today" or "appetite is way down" in your voice note, the AI tracks it. Before appointments, you can ask about side effect patterns without having created a "side effects" column.
4. Doctor-ready summaries Instead of flipping through notes or counting spreadsheet rows, ask "Summarize the last 30 days" and share the result with your psychiatrist.
What VillageMetrics Won't Do
It won't tell you what medication to try. That's your doctor's job. VillageMetrics gives you data to inform those conversations, not medical advice.
It won't replace your judgment. The AI surfaces patterns, but you decide what matters. If your gut says something is off, trust it—even if the data looks fine.
It's not free. A spreadsheet costs nothing. VillageMetrics is a paid subscription. The question is whether the time savings and richer insights are worth it for your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does VillageMetrics track medication changes?
You add medications to your child's profile with the dose and start date. When you change a dose or stop a medication, you update it. The app automatically knows what was active on any day, so your voice journal entries are always linked to the right medication period.
Can I see behavior trends overlaid on medication changes?
Yes. The app shows behavior scores over time with medication changes marked on the timeline. You can visually see "things got better after we increased the dose on November 1" without doing any manual correlation.
What if I've been tracking in a spreadsheet—can I switch?
You can start using VillageMetrics going forward without importing old data. Your historical spreadsheet data is still valuable for doctor conversations; VillageMetrics will build its own history from when you start. Some families keep their old spreadsheet as a reference and use VillageMetrics for new tracking.
Ready to stop flying blind? VillageMetrics turns your daily voice notes into the data doctors need to help your child.