readers advisory for all discussion

I am looking for books with main characters who have a disability. Preferably Deaf/Hearing Impaired or Blind, but any will do.
I have 2 criteria that I would love to be met if possible:
1: I don't like characters who are written as hopeless and in need of care as they can't help themselves.
2: I am not a fan of regency or 'dated' style books. Fantasy, modern doesn't matter.
Any help would be appreciated.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Marcelo in the Real World
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Orange Houses
Burn Down the Ground: A Memoir
The Story of My Life

There is a deaf character in Libba Bray's Beauty Queens. The book has more of an ensemble cast than any one main character, but she is one of the major characters.

Here's the book rachel's suggesting- Beauty Queens.

Thanks for the suggestions. :-D

In The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin, the main character is blind. She can see magic, though. It's the second book in the series, but I don't think you need to read the first one to enjoy it.

I am reading The Fault in Our Stars. So far it is wonderful. There is a character in it who will be soon going blind and there is the main romantic protagonist who has a prosthetic leg. It is so funny and irreverent. The characters defy pity.

I also listened to Never Seduce a Scot on audiobook. The main character is deaf yet she is hiding her disability from the world and so they think she is daft. She is married off to a Scot who eventually discovers that she is quite smart and seductive. I am not a fan of romance novels but this one was actually written quite well.

In The White Darkness, Sym, the main character, is hearing impaired and has to wear hearing aids. In The White Bicycle, Taylor is a girl with Asperger Syndrome. Both are great, literary novels (though Darkness is also quite suspenseful.) Incidentally, they both won Printz awards (winner and honor.)

Me Before You: A Novel

look at the description. Its not a 'chick book' and is a pretty serious and heavy read.

The Small Back Room is one of the best books out of wwII. Sam Rice has lost part of a leg before the novel begins (we discover this on the first page), and whilst this is a small part of the wider narrative, it has a huge impact on Sam's psychology and behaviour.

Oh, and Cloudstreet of course.

There are a number of these that haven't been mentioned yet.

My favorite is Inside Out and the author's Stuck in Neutral fits the bill just as well. Both are short lightning fast reads that still managed to get 5 stars outta me.

The art of falling. It's on Netgallery now

Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem