Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a term advocated by some occupational therapists to describe a range of problems that might be amenable to particular treatment strategies, and has mainly been applied within the fields of paediatrics and learning disability.In this article,the authors investigate whether there could be a common ground between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and SPD and describe an extension of the treatment strategies for SPD to those with BPD in their acute inpatient unit. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Interface Ltd