Self taught developers are more passionate and they don't want to depend on someone else for learning things. The way software industry is moving forward these days, i don't think you can keep up with it if you don't have the ability of learning things by yourself.
Shortcomings
I don't think there are any shortcomings in self taught developers as long as they work hard and are ready to learn new things.
Try to learn basics first, go deep, try to learn how things work !