This paper describes optical touch switches for the disabled using a concept of total internal reflection (TIR) of light beam. Key features include ease of implementation, prevention of the light beam incident directly on the user’s eyes, and ability to accept both strong and weak mechanical forces from users. Experimental proof of TIR-based optical touch switch concept in the “touch-off-release-on” mode using a Dove prism shows that a small electrical load (e.g., LED) at the ON state can be turned to the OFF state by just placing a finger with a measured small 0.3-Newtons force. The optical loss of 0.4 dB is also measured which is limited by the back reflection from the Dove prism. In addition, two methods for removing the finger from the touching surface are studied, indicating that the “slide-out” is practically suitable for operating the TIR-based optical touch switch