When Adelaide mother Renee Staska found out her youngest son had a rare genetic disorder, she decided to have her other two children tested for peace of mind. "I thought I'll just blood test them, get it over and done with [so I can] stop worrying and then they both came back positive with it as well," Ms Staska said. Her three children, Hudson, 7, Holly, 6, and Austin, 4, have all been diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, which is one of more than 70 diseases under the umbrella of childhood dementia. "You're not just a mum of three kids anymore — you're a mum of three terminally ill children now," Ms Staska said. According to the Australian Niemann-Pick Type C Disease Foundation, the disease causes an accumulation of cholesterol and other fatty acids in the body's cells which affects the brain and other organs, leading to progressive intellectual decline, loss of motor skills, seizures and dementia. Ms Staska said no other members of her family have the ultra-rare condition and at the time of their diagnosis, her children were not showing any signs or symptoms. Most children with dementia will only live until their late teenage years. For Renee Staska, creating a lifetime of memories for her children is her priority. "I think it's really important to actually let families know that it's not the end just because you've had that diagnosis. You still have all these years, all these memories to make and you do need to actually hold onto hope,” she said. The State of Childhood Dementia 2022 report released this month states that about 90 children die in Australia every year from childhood dementia, which is a similar number of deaths as from childhood cancer. Director of the genetics research theme at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Professor John Christodoulou, said despite the high fatality rate, childhood dementia received 20 times less government funding for research. It affects about 2,000 children in Australia but the federal government only put $3 million of funding towards research this year. Reporting: Gladys Serugga and Rebecca Opie To read more, see the link in our Instagram Story. #LatestNews #AustralianNews #Australia