At a local high school, in past years, there was a girl in drama that was deaf, and they always did something creative with her in the plays. I can't think of one where it didn't affect the character, though.
Along the same lines, for Get Smart, last year, one of our guys was temporarily wheelchair bound due to a leg injury. Our director wrote in a bunch of other detective type characters from the time period, and made this particular boy Ironside.
"what have we learned? Don't smoke... don't do drugs and don't sing 'Defying Gravity'." -CATSNYRevival