PRETTY little Teneka-Louise Fahey looks like any normal six-year-old.

But the shy tot suffers from an unusual condition.

Despite being able to feed and dress herself, she has no balance or co-ordination because her brain does not acknowledge that she has arms.

Now her family face a race against time to encourage her to use her limbs before it's too late.

But thanks to the dedication of her school teachers, Teneka-Louise is finally starting to make progress.

Mum Annette, of Derek Avenue, Orford, said: "She's coming on so well and it's all thanks to what the school have done for her.

"They've gone out of their way to help.

"It's a race against time to get her brain to realise she has arms before she reaches the age where she just accepts her lack of balance and co-ordination, but we're making good progress."

Nine months ago she was diagnosed as suffering from an immaturity of the brain.

In Teneka-Louise's case, it means that her brain refuses to acknowledge her arms exist.

The tot can't catch a ball or play many of the games her siblings do.

And in her drawings of family and friends, people are sketched without arms.

"Before we started with the physiotherapy she would fall over three times from the garden to front door," said Annette.

"Once inside she'd fall over another six times from the front room to the kitchen. She only has a couple of bad days a week now instead of seven. I'm so proud of her."

Teneka-Louise's condition is similar to dyspraxia, a movement disorder.

Doctors can only say the condition is more common in boys than in girls.

Annette first became concerned at how often her daughter was bumping into things and falling over, sometimes up to 20 times a day.

Doctors told her that Teneka-Louise was simply a clumsy child but 12 months later when the symptoms began to get worse, she was referred to a neurologist.

A physiotherapist eventually diagnosed the brain immaturity and so began a whole new exercise regime to attempt to get Teneka-Louise's brain to acknowledge her arms.

Teachers at St Margaret's Primary, Orford, where Teneka-Louise attends school sought expert advice to help her.

They then devised a special exercise programme aimed at increasing pressure on her arms to send signals to her brain.

The school even provides one on one after school physical exercise lessons to help her progress and have incorporated the special programme into day-to-day lessons.