Self taught really should mean someone that has the initiative, drive, determination and passion for their particular project. I don't think any self taught coder, starts off wanting to write code, they just need to move their particular project into code realm. My passion was stocks, when excel couldn't handle my calculations, I had to teach myself code to handle the calculations. Being self taught allow me to think in non traditional ways, to solve code problems.

I also get a lot discrimination in the web development world, because I don't have a CS degree. I was once told from an interview, "We would like to hire Chad, he is well educated and smart, but we can't cause he doesn't have a CS degree." It wasn't a requirement. Since then I embrace the fact that I'm self taught, some might see it as weakness, I see it as a strength.

Finally, I really like Jack Dorsey quote: http://www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-on-programmers-20...