HIGH MINIMUMS CAPT NEW TO THE A320 EXECUTES GAR AT DCA WHEN AUTOFLT DOES NOT REACT AS EXPECTED.

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THIS PLT IS STILL ON HIGH MINIMUMS ON THE A320. I'M STILL NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT HAPPENED. 7 1/2 MI FROM DCA; CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 1. I DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT WHICH MAKES A LOUD AND LONG ALARM WHEN DISCONNECTED. I THEN COMMANDED 'FLT DIRECTOR OFF' AND TURNED MINE OFF. THE NOISE OF THE AUTOPLT BEING DISCONNECTED COMBINED WITH OTHER DUTIES TO INCLUDE A RADIO FREQ CHANGE AND LOOKING FOR THE POTOMAC RIVER MAY HAVE RESULTED IN FO FLT DIRECTOR NOT BEING TURNED OFF. WHEN I TRIED TO CONTINUE SLOWING THE ACFT; THE SPD INCREASED DRAMATICALLY AND TO AVOID OVERSPDING THE FLAPS; A CLB WAS BEGUN. THE ACFT CLBED TO ABOUT 4500 FT PLUS AND SPD INCREASED TO BEYOND 250 KTS BEFORE CTL OF SPD WAS REGAINED BY USING THE AUTOTHRUST DISCONNECT BUTTON. DCA ATC WAS VERY HELPFUL AND UNDERSTANDING WHEN CONTACTED BY PHONE ON THE GND. AT FIRST; I THOUGHT THE PROB WAS AN AUTOTHRUST MALFUNCTION. IN RECONSTRUCTING THE EVENTS LATER; WE SUSPECT THE FO FLT DIRECTOR WAS NOT TURNED OFF. IN THE FUTURE; I'LL ENSURE BOTH FLT DIRECTORS ARE TURNED OFF BY DOING IT MYSELF. IT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF SENSE IF THE SYS (FLT DIRECTOR) WAS REDESIGNED AND ONLY ONE FLT DIRECTOR ON/OFF BUTTON WAS PROVIDED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR INDICATED THAT HE DID EXECUTE A GAR OUT OF THE APCH. HE ADMITS TO BEING BEHIND THE ACFT WHEN HE LOST UNDERSTANDING OF WHY THE AUTOFLT HAD NOT RESPONDED AS HE EXPECTED. TRAINING HAD EMPHASIZED THAT BOTH FLT DIRECTORS MUST BE OFF IN A SIT SUCH AS THIS IN ORDER TO DEACTIVATE AUTOFLT AND HAVE MANUAL CTL.