The AT retardation is easlily overridden IMO, and in and of it's self should not be a factor assuming your hand is on the throttles to begin with.
Here's the problem - you're teaching your hand to override an automatic system.
And an MD-10 in a crosswind is a totally different beast. Much higher control forces. Throw in a female pilot and I think it's easy to predict - both hands on the yoke. Then the A/T's do their thing at 50 feet and you're sitting there at idle power with lots of yaw-induced drag.
MD was fixated on the A/T's with this airplane. I had an MD ground instructor tell me - the initial concept was no throttles at all - just a push-button engine system.
So, to answer the question, I'd say 90 % of the pilots I fly with never click off the A/T's on the MD11, ever. They override them when they feel the need.