Opening line for a speech to Autism Annual Meeting?

Question

Our Autism Society is having its annual meeting. I am presenting an award and the first line of my speech is "As a parent, I am always uncomfortable when people start throwing around words like 'hero' and 'saint', because it usually means they are not planning to help.'

Is it fine on its own, or does it need explanation?

(If people think you are heroic, they believe you are doing things they would not be able to do, so they don't want you to ask them to help. People with autism can sometimes be a bit high-maintenence)

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Answer 1

I think its great! Very well worded!

Answer 2

I'm not sure I would start with a negative.  How about a little joke, or maybe something touching, like a a few lines from a picture book, famous story, or quote?  Maybe talk about different people who are considered heroes, or show pictures of people you think are heroes and why?  Compare and contrast a superhero (such as WonderWoman) to the person you're honoring or a parent of a child with ASD, and do it in a humorous way.

Good luck!